Adderbury care home improves after management change

An Adderbury care home rated as ‘requiring improvement’ in April has been upgraded to ‘good’ after a new inspection.

Lake House changed its registered manager following the spring inspection which had prompted criticism of staffing levels and safety in administration of medicines.

“Following the inspection in April 2015... we issued the provider and registered manager with a warning notice stating the service must take action by July 30, 2015 to ensure there were enough staff to meet people’s needs in a timely way,” said the April inspectors.

There were concerns over lack of staff training in dementia care and food handling.

The new report, prepared after an unannounced visit on September 10, showed improvements in all main areas, and the overall rating has been upgraded to ‘good’.

At the time of the re-inspection people, relatives and staff were ‘very complimentary about the new manager and the positive changes that had been made’.

“We undertook this inspection to... confirm the service now met legal requirements. We found the provider had taken the actions and made the required improvements,” said the new report.

“However, we have asked the service to continue making improvements to the safe storage of medicines because thickening powder prescribed as part of the treatment for people with swallowing problems was not stored in line with safe storage guidance.”

Cristina Pashmi, Area Operations Manager, said: “We are delighted with the good progress the home has made. A lot of hard work has gone into tackling the issues raised at our last inspection, which has resulted in the positive outcome this time. The fact that this has also been celebrated by our residents, their families and other health professionals is especially appreciated by the team at Lake House. Everyone is looking forward to making sure we continue to improve even further.”